Commentary
And certainly he saw him. And the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, saw Gabriel at the horizon that is clear at the rising of the sun. And what is he? And what is Muhammad regarding what he informs of the unseen, of seeing Gabriel and the revelation to him and other than that, is not stingy with it, meaning he does not withhold any part of the revelation, nor does he ask for its teaching without teaching it to him. And in the manuscript of Abdullah, it is written with a ظاء, and in the manuscript of Ubayy, it is written with a ضاد. And the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, used to read with both of them.
And mastering the distinction between the ضاد and the ظاء is necessary. And knowing their points of articulation is essential for the reader, for most non-Arabs do not differentiate between the two letters. And if they do, they differentiate incorrectly. There is a significant difference between them. The point of articulation of the ضاد is from the root of the edge of the tongue and what is adjacent to it from the molars on the right or left side of the tongue. Umar ibn al-Khattab, may Allah be pleased with him, was the most precise in using both hands, and he would produce the ضاد from both sides of his tongue. It is one of the tree letters, the sister of جيم and شين. As for the ظاء, its point of articulation is from the tip of the tongue and the roots of the upper incisors. It is one of the dental letters, the sister of ذال and ثاء. If the two letters were the same, there would not be two readings established in this word, nor would there be a difference between two mountains of knowledge and recitation. And the meaning, derivation, and structure would not differ. If you say: If the one praying places one letter in place of the other, I say: It is like placing ذال in place of جيم, or ثاء in place of شين, for the difference between ضاد and ظاء is like the difference between their sisters. And what is he? And what is the Qur'an by the saying of a cursed devil, meaning by the words of some who eavesdrop, and by their revelation to their allies from the jinn.
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